In order to help students identify main ideas, what type of questioning is useful?

Scaffolded questioning that incorporates who, what, when, where, and why is particularly effective for helping students identify main ideas because it encourages deeper engagement with the text. This type of questioning prompts students to analyze various aspects of the content, guiding them to extract significant information that contributes to understanding the overall message or theme. By breaking down the text into manageable components, students can piece together the main ideas more effectively.

Each of the interrogative words serves a distinct purpose: "who" helps identify characters or main figures, "what" clarifies events or key concepts, "when" places these events in a timeline, "where" establishes setting, and "why" delves into motivation or reasoning. This comprehensive approach allows students to think critically and systematically about the text rather than skimming over it, ultimately leading to greater comprehension and retention of the main ideas presented.